At a glance

• Only about 5–6% of people on council housing registers in boroughs like Islington and Lambeth are rehoused each year

• Councils are removing thousands from waiting lists due to having no realistic chance of being housed

• Council housing now overwhelmingly goes to those in the most severe need

Only about five per cent of Londoners on the waiting list for a council home have any chance of being rehoused, a City Hall inquiry has been told.

Borough housing chiefs say a “ housing emergency ” has been caused by the huge number of homeless families that are given priority status and the dire shortage of properties available to councils to reallocate to people in need of a home.

Most of the capital’s councils already require people applying to join their housing waitin

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